Stapling device



May 19, 1936. 'E c BUNNELL l2,041,523

STAPLING DEVICE Filed F'ebv 18, 1935 Patented May 19, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT CFFICE STAPLING DEVICE Application February 18, 1935, Serial No. 7,004

8 Claims.

The present invention relates to an improved stapling device, particularly of the so-called desk type, an object being to provide a stapling device which may be selectively operated to either bend the legs of the st-aple inwardly, such a bent staple being usually referred to as a permanent staple, or to bend the legs outwardly, such a staple being usually referred to as a spread or temporary staple.

Various means have heretofore been employed for accomplishing this purpose, as for instance a slidable anvil or an anvil having a hinged flap upon which the spreading grooves were provided, but these have required manipulation of the anvil with consequent wear and looseness which was objectionable because of the desirability of maintaining the anvil as a solid immovable part in order to obtain the best stapling results. It is proposed in the present invention to provide means whereby the upper portion of the staple device may be bodily shifted between two positions to bring the staple driving means into register with anvil grooves respectively designed for bending the staple legs inwardly and outwardly,

to the end that the anvil will at all times be solid and free from movable parts.v Another object is to provide such means which will not add materially to the cost of the device.

Another object is to provide improved means for securing the staple strip feeding spring, such means being readily insertible and removable by hand, and being entirely concealed in the assembled relation.

With the above and other objects in view an embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing, and this embodiment will be hereinafter more fully described with reference thereto, and the invention will be finally pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of desk type stapling device, according to the exemplary illustrated embodiment of the invention, the parts being shown in position for driving the staples to bend the legs inwardly.

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view, the parts being sho-wn in position for driving the staples to bend the legs outwardly.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the anvil portion of the device provided with grooves for bending the staple legs inwardly and outwardly.

Fig. 4 is a sectional bottom plan view taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view of the staple driving end of the device showing the same in engagement with the anvil, and showing a staple driven and with its legs bent inwardly, being taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged front elevation of the parts as shown in Fig. 5.

Fig. '7 is an enlarged front elevation of the parts as shown in Fig. 5 in relation to the grooves for bending the staple legs outwardly, and showing a staple driven and with its legs bent outwardly.

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional View taken along the line 8-8 of Fig. 2, and showing the means for securing the staple feeding spring.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the clip employed for securing the st-aple feeding spring.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several figures oi the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, the stapling device according to the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated therein, comprises a base I0, provided at its forward portion within a recess I I with an anvil plate I2, provided near its forward edge with a suitably shaped groove I3 adapted to bend the staple legs inwardly, and provided in rearwardly spaced relation thereto, and near its rearward edge, with a pair of grooves I4-I4 adapted to bend the staple legs outwardly.

The base I0 is provided at its rearward edge with upwardly projecting ears I5--I5 between which the upper staple carrying and driving part I6 o-f the device is pivotally and resiliently mounted. For this purpose the part I6 is provided at its rearward end with downwardly projected ears II-I'l, disposed between the ears I5-l 5 of the base, and provided with slots I8-I 8 engaged by a pivot pin I9 mounted in and extending between the ears I5I5.

A yieldable supporting lever 20 is pivotally mounted on the pin I9 between the ears I'I-II and projects beneath and engages the lower surface of the part I6, being pro-vided at its lower portion with a shoulder 2l engaging the under surface of the base I and a hook22 to which one end of a spiral spring 23 is secured, the other end of the spring being secured to a hook 24 formed on the under side of the base I0. It will be seen that as downward pressure is applied to the upper staple driving part I6 of the device the lever 20 yields to permit the material to be gripped between this upper part and the base. The construction is also such that the upper part of the device may be swung away from the base through an arc of 1809, when it is desired to drive a staple independently of the base without bending the staple legs.

Upon the under surface of the part I6 there is secured a leaf spring projecting rearwardly beneath the pivot pin I 9 and bifurcated, as at 26, to embrace the lever 20. The ends of the two sides of the spring are each provided with an inverted V-shaped formation, as at 21, which in one operative position of the part I engages forwardly of the pin I 9 to retain the pin at the rearward ends of the slots I8, and which in the other operative position engages behind the pin I9 to retain the pin at the forward ends of the slots I8. The V- shaped formation 21 also constitutes a cam for releasing the spring as the part I6 is shifted from one to the other of its operative positions, the V-shaped formation rst springing from one side to the other of the pin and then snapping into position, the camming action being such as to position and yieldably retain the part I6 snugly in one or the other of its two positions in relation to the pin. The length of the slots I8-I8 and the dimensions of the V-shape formation 21 is such in relation to the spacing of the anvil grooves I3 and I 4--I4 that the shifting of the part I6 from one of its operative positions to the other brings the staple driver 28 into register with one or the other of the grooves I3 and I4-I4. As shown in Fig. 1 the part I6 is in position to register with the groove I3 to bend the staple legs of the staples A inwardly, and in Fig. 2 the part I6 is in position to register with the grooves I4-I4, to bend the staple legs outwardly. In either position the pivotal action of the part I6 about the pin I9 is substantially the same.

The inverted U-shaped staples A to be driven are in the usual strip form and are mounted upon a staple carrier bar 29, being forced forwardly upon the bar by means of a staple feeder 30, of inverted U-shape cross-section, mounted on the bar 29, and having a handle member 3I secured to its upper transverse portion and to which the outer end of a coil spring 32 is secured, as at 33. 'I'he inner end of this spring is secured in the forward housing portion of the part I6, this portion consisting of upwardly extending side plate extensions 34-34 within which there is disposed a frame member having side portions 35-35 and a diagonally disposed connecting portion 35a. The forward edges of the side portions 35-35 are bent inwardly, as at 36, to form a guide for the rearward face of the staple driving plunger 31, and the lower edges are turned inwardly, as at 38-38, to form an upper guide surface for the staple strip A. The side faces of the plunger 31 are guided by the inner faces of the side extensions 34-34 and the front face is guided by the transverse portion of a U-shaped member 39, the sides of which are disposed at the outer sides of the extensions 34-34. 'I'he sides of the member 39, the extensions 34-34, and the portions 35-35 of the frame member are all secured tobether by a pair of transverse riveted cross-pins 40-40.

The side portions 35-35 of the frame member are provided with rectangular shaped slots 4 I-4I extending forwardly from the rearward edge of said portions, the side portions 35-35 adjacent the slots being inwardly offset, as at 42. The clip 43 for securing the inner end of the spring 32 is adapted to be secured within these slots, this clip being of U-shape form and being provided in its transverse portion with a slot 44 through which the inner end of the spring 32 is threaded, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. After threading of the end of the spring, and before assembling within the housing, the spring is wound up and is then inserted within the housing by engaging the sides of the clip 43 in the slots 4 I-4I. Thereupon the cover plate 45 is engaged over the housing and secured by a set-screw 48 screwed into the transverse portion 36 of the frame member, the cover closing the ends of the slots l- 4I and retaining the clip therein. It will loe seen that in order to rernove the spring it is only necessary to remove the cover plate whereupon the clip and spring may be slipped out.

The lower end of the forward wall of the member 39 is upwardly offset .and cut back to the inner wall of the plunger guideway as at 41, slightly more than the thickness of the staple, so that when the staple is driven either with the legs bent inwardly as shown in Fig. 6, or outwardly, as shown in Fig. '1, there is no tendency for the staple to become jammed in the guideway, either due to spreading or bending of the metal of the bridge portion of the staple or to binding of the outwardly bent legs with the end walls of the guideway.

I have illustrated and described a preferred and satisfactory embodiment of my invention but it will be obvious that changes may be made therein, within the spirit and scope thereof, as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

l. In a stapling device for inverted U-shaped staples, a base part, a staple driving part, an anvil carried by said base part having means adapted to bend the legs of a driven staple inwardly and means spaced therefrom adapted to bend the legs of a driven staple outwardly, a pivot pin on one of said parts and slotted means on the other of said parts engaging said pivot pin, permitting relative shifting movement between said parts whereby the driven staple may be registered respectively with one or the other of said staple leg bending means, and a spring carried by said part having said slotted means having a eamming portion adapted to engage at one or the other sides of said pin to yieldably retain said parts in one or the other of their shifted positions.

2. In a stapling device, a casing having side walls, a staple strip guide, a staple strip feeder movable on said guide, a spring for feeding said strip feeder, said side walls having opposed slots extending inwardly from the edges of said side portions and open at one end, a spring clip member having side portions slidably engaged in said slots and a transverse portion adapted to be secured to one end of said spring with a portion of said spring wound about said transverse portion and disposed between said side portions, and means removably secured in relation to the edges of said side portions and closing the open ends of said slots to retain said clip.

3. In a stapling device, a casing having side walls, a staple strip guide, a staple strip feeder movable on said guide, a spring for feeding said strip feeder, said side walls having opposed rectangular slots extending inwardly from the edges of said side portions and open at one end, a spring clip member having rectangular side portions slidably engaged in said slots and a transverse portion adapted to be secured to one end of said spring with a portion of said spring wound about said transverse portion and disposed between said side portions, and means removably secured in relation to the edges of said side portions and closing the open ends of said slots to retain said clip.

4. In a stapling device, a casing having side Walls, a staple strip guide, a staple strip feeder movable on said guide, a spring for feeding said strip feeder, said side Walls having opposed slots extending inwardly from the edges of said side portions and open at one end, a spring clip member having side portions slidably engaged in said slots and a transverse portion having a slot adapted to receive and secure one end of said spring with a portion of said spring wound about said transverse portion and disposed between said side portions, and means removably secured in relation to said side portions and closing the open ends of said slots to retain said clip.

5. In a stapling device, a casing having a pair of spaced side portions, a staple strip guide, a staple strip feeder movable on said guide, a spring for feeding said strip feeder, said side portions having opposed slots extending inwardly from the edges of said side portions and open at one end, a spring clip member having side portions slidably engaged in said slots and a transverse portion adapted to be secured tol one end of said spring with a portion of said spring wound about said transverse portion and disposed between said side portions, means removably secured in relation to the edges of said side portions and closing the open ends of said slots to retain said clip, and means disposed at the outer sides of said side portions and enclosing and concealing said slots.

6. In a stapling device, a casing having a pair of spaced side portions, a staple strip guide, a staple strip feeder movable on said guide, a spring for feeding said strip feeder, said side portions having opposed slots extending inwardly from the edges of said side portions and open at one end,

said side portions being inwardly offset contiguous to said slots, a spring clip member having side portions slidably engaged in said slots and a transverse portion adapted to be secured to one end of said spring with a. portion of said spring 5 wound about said transverse portion and disposed between said side portions, means removably secured in relation to the edges of said side portions and closing the open ends of said slots to retain said clip, and means disposed at the outer sides of said side portions and enclosing and concealing said slots.

7. In a stapling device for inverted U-shaped staples, a base part, a staple driving part, an anvil carried by the base part having means adapted to bend the legs of a driven staple, said staple driving part having a staple guiding passage including front and rear walls and end walls, a plunger movable in said passage to drive a staple therein, said front wall of said passage terminating in upwardly oiset relation to said rear wall whereby the bridge portion of said staple is unconfined at the front in its driven position in relation toI said anvil.

8. In a stapling device for inverted U-shaped staples, a base part, a staple driving part, an anvil carried by the base part having means adapted to bend the legs of a driven staple, said staple driving part having a staple guiding passage including front and rear walls and end walls, a plunger movable in said passage to drive a staple therein, said front and end Walls of said passage terminating in upwardly offset relation to said rear wall whereby the bridge portion of said staple is unconned at the front and ends in its driven position in relation to said anvil.

EARL C. BUNNELL. 

